Covenant Red
Chapter 13: Elegy
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.
/\/\/\/\
The pain let him know he wasn't dead.
"I'm alive," Kensuke groaned.
He opened his eyes to a white ceiling. Machines beeped in comforting regularity somewhere to his left. He tried to move to find them and couldn't. A neck brace restricted his head, his left arm and leg were encased in heavy casts, along with his right hand and most of his torso. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. He groaned again.
"Yo."
Kensuke tried to crane his neck and regretted it. He found the control panel to shift his bed into an upright position. The hospital room came into focus. There were no windows. It was small, empty except for a chair in the corner. Toji was sitting forward in it, elbows on knees, wearing a loose grin.
"Yo," Kensuke croaked back.
"You sound and look like crap."
"Thanks. I feel worse."
"I bet." Toji snorted a laugh. "Man, what were you thinking? That was like skydiving without a parachute. If it was balls or craziness… I never would have been able to do that."
Kensuke smiled without knowing why. The last thing he clearly recalled was being in an elevator with Ayanami. After that was the sensation of falling. But apparently all was well; the world had not ended.
"You're… good?" he tried. He didn't see any bandages. Just Toji, in civilian clothes, looking more tired than he could recall seeing him.
"I'm still breathing." He sat back in his chair. "Doc was able to figure out the Nephilim's ability from what remained of its corpse. She called it energy negation. It could cancel out bullets, and blood skills. So when it touched me and Soryu it eradicated all trace of blood skill from our bodies. We're just ordinary humans now."
Words failed Kensuke.
"It's good news," Toji said. "I can spend a lot more time with my sister. No more training. No more battles. Doc said I'll still need to stop in every now and then, for research purposes, but… I've already been debriefed. I'm here today as a visitor." He looked at him. "Come on, man, say something. You're killing me here."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, sorry I won't be risking my life anymore. I'll miss the paycheck, true, but I've saved most of mine to this point for Sakura. We'll be okay until I get a real job."
"You don't have to…" Kensuke trailed off.
Toji's identity protecting his sister and this city, and the ability to do so, vanished in an instant. Such an abrupt, drastic change had to be jarring yet he was acting like it was a relief. The fantastic world he made a home in was suddenly beyond reach.
"I'm your friend."
"Yeah," Toji said, bemused. "That's why I'm here. And let me tell you it got plenty boring waiting for you to wake up. Another day sitting here and I'd go stir crazy."
A yawn interrupted Kensuke's attempt to pry further. Toji smiled. He rose from the chair and stretched.
"They told me not to keep you awake. Rest up. It was good to see you, man."
Kensuke panicked. "You're leaving?"
"Don't freak out. I'm not going anywhere until my sister graduates high school, so…" He quirked a smile. "This isn't goodbye. We live in the same damn apartment complex."
"Yeah…"
Toji hesitated, then shrugged. "417."
"What?"
"That's my apartment number. 417. Drop by when Akagi lets you out of here, okay? Sakura's been asking about you." He frowned. "I guess I'll allow it. She's been so adamant. And, you know, like you said, we're friends."
Kensuke smiled. It dissolved. He remembered Shinji Ikari being cut in half. He went cold. "Ikari…" he began.
Toji stopped under the doorframe. He didn't turn back.
"Ikari…" He shook his head in correction. "Shinji is dead. Even he couldn't survive the…" He bit off the rest.
"How's Soyru?" Kensuke whispered.
"No clue. I haven't seen her in days. The Class Rep couldn't even get a hold of her." He took a breath to say more, then didn't. He forced a grin over his shoulder. "Focus on yourself. Get better before worrying over anyone else, alright?"
He issued a half-nod to avoid conflict. Toji accepted it.
"See you later, man."
"See you."
The door shut and fatigue overwhelmed him. His eyes were too heavy to keep open. His last thought before a troubled sleep was the memory of Asuka's tortured scream.
/\/\/\/\
Time passed. He woke. He was still in the same room. He managed to sit up to look around.
At his bedside was a tray. On it was a wrapped box with a card, and a note beside them printed in Maya Ibuki's meticulous handwriting. Kensuke collected them on his lap.
Dear Mr. Aida, Maya's note read, this package came for you yesterday. I should apologize; we had to open it and make sure it was safe. I'm sure you understand. I rewrapped it as best I could. Please use it sparingly, as you should be focused on recovery. Take care.
He opened the card and found UN stationary.
Get better soon, Mr. Sniper. –MK.
"Kirishima?" he said aloud, and couldn't help but smile.
Kensuke managed to open the box. It was a PockeTech 4, the newest handheld system, and a port of the mecha game they played together on the day they met at the arcade. He wondered if her "get better soon" wish referred to his health or his gameplay ability.
"And she's always complaining about money," he muttered, fumbling to turn the system on. "Did she steal this maybe?"
Bandaged hands weren't conducive to playing video games but he was determined. And there wasn't anything else to do in this hospital room.
He was an hour into the single player campaign when the door slid open without warning. Misato entered and watched patiently as he scrambled to turn off the game.
"Commander Katsuragi," he saluted on instinct.
"At ease," she told him. "Good to see you awake and alert."
He hadn't seen her in person since before the last battle. It felt like years ago. Her uniform was prim as ever, but her demeanor felt even farther away than usual. Her eyes looked weary, old. A sizeable bruise distorted the natural elegance of her jaw line. She let him stare until he caught himself, and he looked away awkwardly.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, uh, I won't lie. I've never been this banged-up in my life. It hurts and it sucks."
"You're lucky to be alive. But I'll ask Dr. Akagi to up your pain meds."
"No," he said, finding a spark of stubbornness. "I mean, it's not that bad." He cleared his throat. "Um, anyways, I saw Toji. He told me about, you know, him losing his blood skill along with Soryu..."
"It was a costly battle," the Commander admitted.
"… And about Ikari dying."
Misato was stoic.
"But, I mean…" Kensuke glanced up at her. "Is losing one body really a death sentence? Can't you transfer him back?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked carefully.
He related what Mana told him in the laundromat, without relating her name.
"I won't ask who told you such stories," she said.
"But you can guess?"
"I'm not in the habit of disappearing people, Aida. No matter what you may think." Misato surprised him by sitting in the free chair. She crossed her legs, getting comfortable.
"I don't want to get anybody in trouble," he told her.
"I know."
"She only told me stuff she thought I should know."
"I'm sure." Misato frowned. "How does Kaji describe her? Spirited? I can't approve of divulging sensitive information so casually, but what's done is done." She nodded at the gift Mana gave him. "That girl is certainly direct. Watch yourself."
"If you mean, stay on her good side, yeah. I will try my best. She acts like she's fighting the world."
She almost grinned at his response. "It's important to know how to pick your battles." She was quiet for a moment. "I suppose you feel like I picked a fight with you."
Kensuke wanted to summon all his justified anger to bear, to finally vent on the source of his troubles over the past few months. But he realized it was really difficult to be pissed at a beautiful woman right in front of him.
Am I that shallow? he wondered. He reflected on the degree of crap he let Soryu get away with and decided he was.
"I'd appreciate some answers," he said instead. "Do you think I've earned them?"
His tone wasn't accusatory or bitter. She sighed deeply.
"You fulfilled your duty as a member of WILLE," she said. "No more, no less. That's what I should say. You stayed with us knowing the dangers." She paused to look down. "Even so, what you did on the bridge against the last Nephilim…"
Misato looked at him. Misato smiled at him.
"Thank you, Kensuke."
Wow. "Oh, uh, sure," he managed to fluster out. "No problem."
Now Toji's appreciation for Ms. Katsuragi made too much sense. That WMD smile should be outlawed, out of simple fairness. No man would resist her orders.
Her smile flitted into a knowing tease for a split-second before being smothered by the sober weight of her authority.
"Don't think I enjoy keeping secrets from my crew," she said, before giving the impression of a shrug. "But yes, you have earned some answers. Ask."
Kensuke realized he would probably never have this opportunity again. One-on-one with his Commander, who for once seemed accessible. He was also smart enough not to burn this bridge behind him. She was still his boss, in charge of WILLE and his life for the foreseeable future. But that smile reminded him she was also a human being.
"What's your favorite food?"
Misato arched an eyebrow. "If you aren't going to take this seriously, I'll leave."
Despite that, she made no move towards the exit. She sat patiently, watching him.
Strike one, Kensuke thought. Okay. No fooling around. Strictly business.
"What exactly is a Nephilim?" he asked.
"An inhuman thing with human form," she responded. "At least, in the beginning. Ms. Kirishima pieced together quite a bit but it isn't the whole truth. The technology the Rokubungis used here was an attempt to advance mankind. Nephilim were the result. They were meant to be the next step in human evolution.
"The Rokubungis wanted to usher in a new world they would rule over. Ayanami and Ikari were created as vessels for their souls. But they were not empty husks. They rejected transfer. So the Rokubungis turned to manipulating Nephilim blood to achieve their ends. Many, many people died for their desires.
"NERV's purpose was genocidal. It had to be destroyed. WILLE exists as a barrier to what NERV wanted, and to prevent the Nephilim from returning to their source."
"What would happen?" Kensuke asked. He wished he had some popcorn.
"Human extinction," Misato said. "The initial experiments seventeen years ago triggered what we call the Impact, causing global birthrates to drastically decline. It took mountains of lives for NERV to discover only those managed to be born after it were candidates for blood skill creation, gaining power like a Nephilim. And a Nephilim commanding the technology WILLE guards could provoke another Impact, one that finishes what the Rokubungis began."
He shrugged. "So, why don't you destroy this tech? Blow it up or something?"
The Commander hesitated just enough to be noticed. "If it was that simple we would have. Any further involvement could be disastrous. We, I cannot risk it."
So Ikari really is gone, he thought. He sagged. "I heard about some incidents between Ayanami and Ikari…"
She told him. As the first Nephilim Rei was confined to a secure lab since creation and served as a living experiment. Shinji was reared in a more direct fashion by the Rokubungis, but was allowed supervised contact with Rei. She grew to resent the difference, and finally lashed out, severing Shinji's arm with her AT field. His resulting uncontrollable blood skill activation killed Gendo and Yui.
"… That was the end of NERV," Misato said. "Their deaths threw all of their schemes into the light. It was an uneasy transition to UN partnership and WILLE's creation. We were left to try and survive as best we could against SEELE and their creations. Soryu, Suzuhara and Ikari risked their lives to protect us, despite everything. And despite the UN's objections."
He frowned. "I feel like a jerk for asking, but why did the UN keep Ikari and Ayanami alive at all if they were such a risk?"
"As the first Nephilim, Ayanami had certain… measures programmed into her that she isn't aware of. She is part of the barrier we use to seal the technology. SEELE found ways around it, but if Ayanami were to die the floodgates could open. So too, if she were to come into contact with it. Which is what all Nephilim want. Ritsuko, Dr. Akagi, likens it to a biological imperative."
"Then how come Ayanami hasn't rebelled?" Kensuke asked. "Despite the collar?"
"Ikari convinced her. He determined humanity deserved to be saved, despite all our ugliness." There was almost fondness in her voice. It vanished as quickly as it appeared. "He wanted to be stronger, to help WILLE. After a time, Ayanami offered to assist him.
"Remember, her ability is energy manipulation and his was a form of energy production. She turned off the restraints on his blood skill. As you saw, it did indeed make him very powerful, but he lost any measure of control. Even Ayanami couldn't do a thing. So many died that day…"
"That's why you put that collar on her? Even though you can't use it?"
Misato returned to formality. "Ayanami's death may well be a dangerous unknown, but I won't hesitate to use that collar if she forces the issue. Nephilim are, first and foremost, by their very nature, a threat to humanity. And I cannot put faith in stated motivations when actions do not match them. Ikari convinced Ayanami to aid WILLE. Eventually. If I was wary of him, I would be a fool to trust her without precaution."
Still, he thought, she fought for WILLE, risking her own life while killing her brethren. Was it really Ikari that swayed her actions? He did remember how deeply his death seemed to affect her.
Kensuke felt ashamed at asking. "Did she love Ikari?"
Misato considered the question in a way that made him feel she arrived at an answer long ago. "I don't think Ayanami knows what love is. Maybe because she was never shown it. Understand, she considers humans the way we consider apes. We are 'beneath' her. She was created to inherit a world without us. I will not allow that to happen."
WILLE was the embodiment of the Commander's determination. And she led it not by edict but by example. Kensuke now understood that it wasn't simply the Children risking their lives against the Nephilim. Everyone in WILLE fought for humanity's survival without hesitation, without complaint of personal sacrifice or hardship, without question of Misato's motivations or reasoning. The stakes were too high to do otherwise.
Still, it would have been nice to know this earlier.
She rose to leave. "You have your answers. I hope you make more intelligent decisions with this knowledge than others."
Kensuke couldn't help but think that was a dig at Mana. "I'm not going to go blab to the tabloids or anything. But you can't blame people for wanting to know. I don't think the UN is the bad guy."
"The UN and WILLE hold differing opinions on the release of information. The man you met, Mr. Kaji, favors giving people much more." Her eyes left his. "I do not. So I'll remind you everything I said here is classified. I'll also remind you that you remain a member of WILLE."
"So, keep my mouth shut, or else?" he half-joked.
"Being part of WILLE carries with it the responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. That includes safeguarding this information. I want you to understand why we do what we do." She wore a bitter face. "Even if I can't ask for your forgiveness, know my priority was always the safety of the most at the cost of the fewest."
Kensuke remembered what Toji told him. The Commander had the chance to eliminate the danger he represented when he first arrived, to protect the rest of her staff, and humanity. She didn't. She risked him developing into a threat because he was human. For the first time he glimpsed the impossible burden on her shoulders.
"Toji…" he began, "Toji told me, about when I first came here, that—"
"You're still a human, Aida," Misato said to him. "Your blood doesn't change that fact. WILLE exists to protect mankind. That is what I will do, as long as I am able."
She lingered a moment at the open door. When she turned back to him, she nearly smiled again.
"You've earned some R&R. Use it. That's an order."
She was gone before he could respond.
/\/\/\/\
More time passed. Limited mobility returned as injuries slowly healed, and he could finally reach the bathroom with crutches. It was awkward, but less awkward than a bedpan.
He recently discovered a communications panel next to his bed, putting him in contact with lieutenant Hyuga for help coordinating meals and finding wifi access. He was speaking to him about the former, requesting the usual premade waffles for breakfast. There was a simple comfort in recreating his normal routine in the hospital.
"Thanks," Kensuke said, after the order was received.
"Glad to help, Aida. If anything, the cooks should thank you. I think you're the only one on base who's ever complimented their meals sincerely."
"I'm not much of a foodie, I guess. As long as it tastes better than cardboard and fills me up, I'm happy."
Hyuga laughed. "That's admirable, really. I should be more grateful, too, and…"
He trailed off and Kensuke thought the line failed.
"Lieutenant?"
"Sorry, Aida. Um, Soryu just entered base for the first time since she… It's been awhile. I need to tell the Commander. Bye."
Kensuke was out of bed and on his crutches, hobbling towards the door before the call ended. He was down the hall before realizing he didn't know where Asuka was headed. He forced a degree of reason. To avoid missing her in transit he went to the tram entrance and staked out a seat in the hallway before the shuttered gates.
A metal bench was not as accepting as a hospital bed, no matter how he contorted his injured body. He stood. He got tired and sat again. He waited.
There were no clocks on the walls and he had no phone. He briefly wondered if Soryu came to see him and was waiting in his empty room. He dismissed that rationally, yet still hoped.
He was finishing his third tally of the floor tiles when Asuka appeared around the hall corner. Seeing her in person cemented she was alive. He was careful to avoid dwelling on her for too long until now because he had no clue how she coped with the last battle. He couldn't see her adopting Toji's artificial optimism for his benefit.
Even if she wasn't his friend, she was his comrade, he thought. He slumped. That was no longer true. She no longer possessed a blood skill. She was, as Toj said, just an ordinary human now.
He shook his head. Asuka would never be ordinary.
She approached but his greeting died in his throat. She looked drained and resigned, crushed. She looked utterly defeated.
And then it was gone as she noticed him on the bench, replaced with casual disinterest. Asuka heaved a monumental sigh and stopped before him.
She eyed him. "So, you're alive."
"Oh. Yeah."
"Well, that's good for you."
Classic Soryu. That ironic dismissal of his near-demise had to mean she was okay. He tried to bury his concerns and let her know how glad he was to see her.
"I'm sorry," was what came out instead, "about your blood skill—"
She made him shut up with a tired look. "Save it. I don't want pity. And I don't need a blood skill. I don't have to rely on that to be someone."
Of course she didn't. She was smart and pretty and talented. She could do anything she wanted.
"But it's not like they'd keep me around here without one. My true talents were always wasted on you."
It took him a moment to realize she was talking about more than himself and HQ. The world dropped from beneath him.
"You're leaving?"
"There's nothing left in this dump. After the breach, it's only a matter of time before the UN gets their way and absorbs WILLE completely. Katsuragi's argument was that she was able to best protect this site on her own. She was never able to do what needed to be done."
"You're leaving?"
Asuka sighed again. "Japan was a vacation that went to crap. It was never home, and never will be. Nothing's keeping me here."
"But…" Kensuke wracked his brain. "But what about school? And Horaki? And…"
"That school is a joke and Hikari will get over it. She's tougher than she lets on."
He gestured silently, futilely. He was too afraid to ask his real question: what about me?
She shrugged in dismissal. "So long, kid. Have fun on this sinking ship. Don't go jumping off any more bridges."
She walked away to the trams, hands buried in the pockets of her oversized jacket. Kensuke tried to stand and hobble after. Even without a busted leg he was no match for her gait. His heart strained towards her.
"Actually," Asuka said, abruptly stopping to turn on him, "I will offer you one more piece of advice. Stay away from the First. For your own good."
"Ayanami?"
"Katsuragi doesn't have any carrots left to dangle in front of its nose. God knows what it'll do now. I'm not waiting around to find out."
There was an inkling of cohesion in his mind between Soryu and Ayanami. He saw firsthand their reactions to Shinji Ikari's death. They both cared for him in some capacity. Even if they were clichéd rivals in love they both shared feelings Kensuke had no access to, that no one else might have access to. The two of them might find some solace together.
"Why not try talking to her?" Kensuke asked.
"I don't talk to things," Asuka responded. "Ayanami is not human."
"Not human," he repeated. "Like Ikari?" He knew it was the wrong thing to say before he said it.
She stared through him. All emotion bled from her.
She reached inside her jacket. For an irrational second he trusted her to pull a gun and shoot him dead.
Instead she retrieved the SDAT player he saw in her apartment. She uncoiled the earbuds, carefully placed them in either ear, and pressed the device on. Asuka turned away down the hall.
Shit, he thought.
"Soryu!" he called after her.
She did not stop. She did not look back. She passed under the tram's shuttered gate and it closed behind her. She was gone.
She was gone.
/\/\/\/\
Days passed. Wounds healed, bones mended. Kensuke focused on physical rehabilitation, sweat and pain drowning out emotion. His casts were replaced with braces but he still relied on crutches for mobility.
Kensuke found a new routine. He woke and ate, attended rehab in a spacious, empty gym, broke for lunch, went back to rehab, then tried to stay awake until dinner. It was physically grueling but he appreciated being too exhausted to think.
A new normal descended on WILLE as he recovered. He saw existing members fulfill their duties with a subdued melancholy as UN suits stayed on site after the breach, ostensibly overseeing reconstruction efforts and security. The writing was on the wall. How and when WILLE was integrated directly into the UN fold seemed only a matter of time.
No one briefed him on possible changes yet and lieutenant Hyuga was always careful to avoid discussing current events in any detail. It felt different than the tactical reluctance his superiors showed him before. Their future was uncertain, and so was his. The Children were all but disbanded. Kensuke imagined his frontline days were numbered. And if the UN had no use for him, he wondered what they'd do with Ayanami.
His soft inquiries about her were met with uniform reticence. He gave up on the adults and went looking for her himself one Sunday free from scheduled rehabilitation. The arboretum entrance was the same as before, nothing but another heavy bulkhead in a WILLE hallway. His last memories of it were steeped in horror and death. Kensuke paused a moment, trying to mourn for someone he never knew. He opened the door.
The arboretum's landscape was all but restored to normal. Debris from the destroyed roof was cleared, new trees and grass were planted. The only proof of battle was the ongoing reconstruction to the ceiling, a snaking scar surrounded by gantry lights and cranes.
Kensuke made his way around the pond. The lifts and weapon caches were hidden away again. There was no more blood on the walkway to mark where Ikari made his last stand. Everything but comforting artifice was swept away. The water was blue, the grass was green, the trees were still. He continued on.
Rei was on the bench by the pond.
"Hi there," he greeted, manipulating his crutches to wave.
She turned her eyes to him, then away.
She had no book this time. Her posture remained perfect. The WILLE uniform she wore looked out of place now, despite how well she filled it out. That must be the only outfit afforded her. Maybe she hated it. Wearing the clothes of her captors, pretending to be one of them. He watched her a moment in silence.
Ayanami was a manmade construct created to replace humans. The artificial next step in evolution, set to inherit a world she would never know. Despite that knowledge he didn't feel fear or disgust, just a sense of pity.
Time stretched. This was not the companionable silence he sometimes shared with Toji. He took to scanning the landscape to distract himself, and nearly forgot he wasn't alone when she spoke.
"Does this space comfort you?"
Kensuke almost fell over.
Holy shit, he thought. Rei Ayanami just asked me a question.
"Do humans enjoy it?" she went on.
"I… guess?" he fumbled, puzzling over what she wanted. "Don't you like it?" She always hung out here.
"I do not know."
"Oh."
He waited for another question. None came. The quiet became too much.
"Things seemed to have calmed down," he hoped as he said it. "I haven't heard about any other Nephilim attacks, right?"
"I have detected nothing. The UN has reported none."
"Good."
This is awkward, he thought as they descended into silence once more. Why did I come here?
He was the last Child. She was perhaps the last Nephilim. If he was truly to be some kind of bridge between them and humans, he was doing a terrible job of it.
Kensuke resolved himself. Rei's contact with humanity to this point was, from his view, horrible. People ordered her to kill fellow Nephilim, or tried to kill her. She was trapped beneath the real world with a bomb around her neck. She was, maybe more than ever before, alone.
Even if she felt that, even if she believed humanity was beneath her as the Commander told him, there had to be a path forward to a more hopeful coexistence. Kensuke fought beside her, talked with her, shared his feelings with her. He remembered her in the elevator after Ikari died, small and shaken, mute with grief. If that wasn't proof of human emotion he didn't know what was.
"Ayanami," he began, "thank you for saving me."
He had since received a debriefing on the details of the last sortie, although his memory remained fuzzy about the final confrontation on the bridge. He was shocked to discover it was Rei who rescued him from plummeting to his death, unfurling her AT field to mitigate his fall. Commander's orders or not, Ayanami was the only reason he wasn't a smear on the floor. He spent a long time during his recovery pondering how to repay her.
"I, uh, I don't think I was exactly seeing straight. So, thank you."
He glanced at her. No reaction.
"And I'm sorry," Kensuke went on, "about what happened." He hoped that wasn't too awkward to drown out his sympathies. Rei's continued silence compelled him to keep talking. "I wish I could have done something sooner during the battle."
Any pride at having figured out how to defeat the Nephilim was short-lived. The fact remained it cut down Ikari without hesitation while everyone else watched. He paused. Why didn't it injure anyone else? It had the opportunity to take them all out easily, but it didn't.
"The Nephilim's behavior didn't make sense," he realized. "It never tried to hurt anyone else…"
"Its intent was obvious," Rei stated.
Kensuke gently let her know he didn't agree.
"It eliminated fellow Nephilim," she explained, "yet spared every human it came across. It eliminated the blood skill from the First and Second Children, and tried to eliminate yours. It decided humans and Nephilim could not coexist. It decided humans should not be the existence to be removed."
She was quiet for a long time.
"I believe Ikari would be okay with that conclusion."
"Are you?"
"That is irrelevant."
"No," he said, "it's not."
"My beliefs will not alter the situation," Rei said.
"That doesn't make them unimportant."
The Commander seemed determined not to touch Nephilim technology, even if it meant saving Ikari. And Rei was doomed to stay alive as an unwitting safety measure. The UN might bury her away with everything else in WILLE. Kensuke felt she had earned better than that. A normal life might be impossible but she deserved some measure of recognition for defending the world, even if it was just from him.
Right? he thought.
Her gaze did not waver from the pond. "Why do you bother?"
Kensuke looked out over the water. "A lot of people in and around WILLE have made a lot of harmful decisions. I don't want to be one of them." He frowned. "I guess that's pretty selfish of me."
He didn't face the same decisions Misato or Kaji faced. He didn't want to. No matter what they did or didn't do, people would be hurt. He had the luxury of trying to befriend Rei, he realized, even if she rejected him.
"I am sorry about what I said to you the other day. I don't know how you feel," he admitted. "But I'm willing to listen."
Kensuke waited. Even if she did not tell him a thing today or tomorrow or twenty years from now that was okay. As long as she had at least one avenue to humanity maybe she wouldn't feel so alone. Maybe one day she might agree with Ikari that mankind was worth saving.
This was his vow. To help protect the world within the means available to him, to assist the Commander and Mr. Kaji and Kirishima and WILLE and the UN. For his father, who he never got to apologize to. For Horaki and her family. In honor of Toji and Soryu. To make Ikari's sacrifice not be in vain.
Rei watched the pond. Kensuke waited.
/\/\/\/\
End
Author notes: This is where my derailed train of ideas abruptly lost momentum. A possible prequel would only cover an Asuka/Shinji/Rei dynamic other, better writers have explored. Anything after this point, with Kensuke and Mana (and Rei) hunting down surviving Nephilim, sounds redundant and (more) boring.
Thank you for reading.